In the halls of US universities and research labs, one question has become increasingly common as President Donald Trump tightens his grip on the field: whether to move abroad.

"Everybody is talking about it," JP Flores, a doctoral student in genetics at the University of North Carolina, told AFP.

The discussion was thrust into the spotlight after Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley, a specialist in fascism, announced he was taking a new post in Canada over the Trump administration's "authoritarian" bent.

"I made the decision when Columbia folded," he told CBS News. "I made it in a split second."

Columbia University, which the Trump administration has threatened with major funding cuts, said it agreed to take steps to rein in pro-Palestinian protests, among other actions.

"It is not the time to cower and fear," said Stanley, who added there was "absolutely no doubt that the United States is an authoritarian country."

With similar threats lodged by Trump against other universities, many researchers are worried about the future of academic freedom in the United States.

Coupled with the administration's broad cuts to federal funding, some fear the country's research field, once viewed as the envy of the world, may be losing its luster.

More than 75 percent of scientists are now considering departing the country over Trump's policies, according to a survey of over 1,600 people published in late March by the journal Nature.

"The trend was particularly pronounced among early-career researchers," the journal said.

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USA brain drain: Researchers consider moving abroad amid Trump administration's policies